Electronic mail (email) processing is a primary use of the Internet and intranets today. Internet and intranet users are replacing conventional paper correspondence with email. As a result, an email user tends to use his or her email application program (email client) as a document editing tool as well as for its original purpose of transmitting messages. As more and more documents are generated for the express purpose of transmission via email, email clients are becoming the document editors of choice, rather than word processing or other document editing programs (document editor). Unfortunately, email clients typically provide substandard document editing capabilities.
In the past there has been a tremendous difference between the editing and formatting options available for email messages and those available for documents generated by more sophisticated document editors. Email messages were generally restricted to the transmission of simple text and rely on formatting conventions that traced their history back to teletypes. For example, “emoticons” such as :-), abbreviations such as <G>, and suggestive formatting such as _underline_and *bold* were some of the ways utilized to express emotion or to draw emphasis within simple text messages.
While the formatting options available to email client users have remained fairly basic, the formatting options and editing features provided by word processors and other document editing programs have dramatically increased. For example, with a full powered word processor, the user is able to apply a wide variety of editing and formatting options. In addition to the richer formatting, full powered word processors provide powerful editing features, such as background spell checking and automatic correction of common typographical errors. Full powered word processors also allow users to create increasingly sophisticated and complex documents that include drawing objects, text colored with a highlighter, borders, shading, tables, and special bullets. Similarly, other rich document editors, such as spreadsheet programs, database programs, and drawing programs provide document editing features far superior to even the most advanced email client available.
As the popularity of email has increased, five changes have taken place. First, some software publishers have added some rich editing capabilities to their email clients. Although this approach allowed a user to change the formatting used in an email message, it required the user to edit email messages in an environment that was different than the word processor or other document editor to which he or she was accustomed. In addition, the rich editor email clients simply do not possess the broad array of features common to sophisticated document editors.
A second approach has been to add some email capabilities to document editors. Although this approach simplified the process of sending a message that was created by the document editor, this approach presented several drawbacks. First, the recipient of the message needed to have a compatible document editor in order to read the message. Second, the document editing environment is disconnected from the email environment. Third, this approach does not make it easier to read incoming email from various sources. Fourth, this approach does not accommodate the sending of file attachments to plain text or basic rich text (down level) email clients.
A third approach has been one in which the user has decided to use a full power word processor or document editor for authoring sophisticated and complex documents, and then uses the email client for distribution. This requires the user to work in the word processing context to create and edit the document. When the document is complete, the user must switch to the email client, create a new message, and include the word processor document as an “attachment”. Although email client is an effective mechanism for transporting documents, handling attachments requires several additional steps on the part of both the sender and the recipient of the message. Additionally, the attached document can only be used by a recipient of the message that has a compatible document editor in order to read the document.
A fourth approach has been one in which an email client invokes an object-enabled mail note to display an email message and related features of the user interface. The mail note provides a view port in which the document editor displays and edits the body of the email message. The document editor provides its formatting and editing features in the context of the mail note. Programming interfaces between the mail note and the document editor allow the mail note to translate message data back and forth between the document editor's format and the format imposed by the email client. This allowed messages created with a document editor to be read by email clients. Unfortunately, this approach is inefficient because it requires a great deal of communication between the email client and the document editor, which reduces efficiency and consumes processor resources. Furthermore, this approach confuses users as to the availability of various functions of the email client and/or the document editor.
A fifth approach employs an envelope data architecture to provide the functionality of an email client within the user interface of a document editor (e.g., word processor, spreadsheet, database, etc.). The user can invoke the envelope to access the email client's functionality within the context of the document editor's user interface.
An envelope user interface is displayed to integrate the functionality of an email client within the user interface of the document editor. Within the envelope user interface, the user defines the parameters (recipient, cc, bcc, subject) by which the email client will transmit the email message. Message body data is also created by the sender using the document editor, and the message body data constitutes the body of the email message. The envelope can be invoked by the sender while using the document editor's user interface, and invoking the envelope causes the email client to transmit the email message in response to the user's command. All message body data and envelope data can be saved with a document, so that such data is available when the user recalls the document for a subsequent editing session. Such an envelope architecture is disclosed in Apfel et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/098,778, filed Jun. 17, 1998, entitled “System And Method For In-Place Editing Of An Electronic Mail Message Using A Separate Program” and assigned to Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., the assignee of the present invention. The Apfel et al. application is incorporated herein by reference.
The envelope architecture described above provides the environment for the present invention. A sender, using the envelope architecture, may wish to instruct a recipient with respect to the purpose for emailing a particular document (e.g., a slide created using PowerPoint slide presentation software or a spreadsheet created using Excel spreadsheet software, both manufactured and sold by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., the assignee of the present invention) to the recipient. Most email users have a specific reason for sending a document to a particular recipient. For example, the user may be sending the document for the recipient for reviewing or editing.
To communicate such instructions or introductory text, a sender may insert extra space into the document and type instructions or introductory text above the actual content (i.e., body) of the document. By using this approach for sending instructions or introductory text, the sender must later delete the introductory text on his or her copy of the document to preserve the integrity of the document that he or she has just sent. Similarly, before the recipient can edit the document, he or she must likewise delete the introductory text. This approach to communicating instructions or other introductory text is onerous and inefficient. Furthermore, a user of Excel spread sheet software or PowerPoint slide presentation software cannot use this approach because in those applications additional space for inserting instructions or an introduction is not readily available.
Hence, there is a need in the art for a system and method that will allow the sender of a document via email to transmit a document created by a document editor along with instructions or an introduction without corrupting the text of the original document.